Car-fender.



W. L. UHRYSLER, WJ. LUTHER & J. W. KMS.

v OAR FENDER. :APPLIIcAYTIoAN FILED AUG. 2o, 1908. 918,733.. Patented A111220, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

W.'L."0HRYS'LER. W. J. LUTHER @L J.' W. KAYS.

GAR FENDER. APPLIGATIGN FILED 116.120, 19o8.

' Patented A111220, 1909.

2 SHEETS-#SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES lPATENT oEEIoE.

WILLIAM L. CHRYSLER, WILLIAM J. LUTHER, AND .I OSEPH` W. KAYS, 0F EUGENE, OREGON.

CAE-FENDER.`

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 20, 1909.

Application filed August 20, 1908. Serial No. 449,564.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM L'. CHRYS- LER, WILLIAM J. LUTHER, and JOSEPH W. KAYs, citizens of the United States, residing at Eugene, in the county of Lane and State of Oregon, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Fenders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object an im'- proved construction of fender for cars or other vehicles, which may be 4actuated either by the operator or motorman of the car, or by impact with an object upon'the track, and which when thus operated will swing rearwardly and then downwardly, so as to positively prevent passing over the object struck, eifectually providing by such rearward movement that the obstruction will be icked up by the fender` and not rolled unerneath the wheels.

With this and other objects in view that will more fully 4appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain constructions and arrangements of the parts that we shall hereinafter fully describe and claim.

For a full understanding of the invention and the merits thereof, and to acquire a knowledge of the details of construction, reference is to be had to the following descri tion and accompanying drawings, in whic Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of our improved car fender, the same being shown in set position; Fig. 2 is a similar view, but with the lparts in the position they assume after being actuated; Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the fender Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the trigger and its concomitant arts; and, Fig. 5 is a similar view of the setting lever. y

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings, by the same reference characters. c

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the platform ofa car, and 2 the wheels thereof. l l Y Our im rovedfender'comprises a framework of w ich 3 designates the side bars and 3', 3 the front and rear cross bars respectively;

7 and 8 designate intermediate longitudinal bars that extend from the front cross bar 3 to an intermediate cross bar 9.

10 and 11 designate hanger rods that are pivotally swung at their upper ends from a cross rod 12 secured by brackets 13, 131to the lower face of the platform 1, the lower ends of said hanger rods 10 and 11 beingpiv otally connected to the intermediate cross bar 9 of the fender framework, so as to assist in suspending the framework from and inV a position underneath the platform, as clearly illustrated in the drawings. 19 designates another hanger rod which is, as shown, relatively shorter than the hanger rods 10 and 11, and which is pivotally secured at its lower end to the rear cross bar 3 of the framework, and at its u per end to a cross rod 15 which is secured y brackets 17, -17 to the lower face of the platform 1 in rear of the `brackets 13, 13. v

Compression o1 pull springs 27 and 28 are connected at their rear ends to screw eyes 27 28 secured to the platform, and said springs are secured at their forward ends by means of hooks 27, 2S to the intermediate cross bar 9 of the fra rework, the springs eX- erting tension upon the framework so as to swing the same rearwardly and thence downwardly.

It is` to be particularly noted, .as illustrated best in Figs. 1 and 2, that the hanger rod 19 being shorter than the hanger rods 10 and 11, will, in the swinging of the framework after action of the s rings 27 and 28, tend to draw the framewor first rearwardly in a substantially horizontal position, before the front end of the framework is tilted downwardly into engagement with the track rails. Hence it is manifest that whenever an obstruction is reached and the fender is sprung or released, it will draw rapidly rearwardly and thence quickly downwardly, so as to insure that the object shall not be passed over but shall be caught up on the fender and thus saved from passing under the wheels 2.

In order to set our im roved fender, we provide a hand-operate lever 14 which passes up through the platform so that it may be conveniently operated by the motorman, and which is mounted upon the rod 15 underneath the platform, as best seen in Fig. 5. A spring 18 encircles the rod 15 and is so connected to the lever 14 as to swing the u per arm thereof forwardly. The lever 14 is 'ormed below its fulcrum on the rod 15 with a cilownwardly extending arm 16, the lower extremity of which is formed with a hook designed to engage the rear cross bar 3 of the framework when the upper arm of the lever 14 is pulled rearwardly so as to swing the framework upwardly and forwardly to assume a horizontal set position, as illustrated in Fig. l. In order to hold the parts thus set, we provide a downwardly extending keeper post 22 which is secured to the lower face of the platform and which is formed with a somewhat pointed lower extremity 22. rIhis keeper is designed to be engaged by a trigger 24 which is pivotally mounted upon the rear cross bar 3 of the framework and which projects u wardly from said cross bar and is formed wit i a seat 24 designed to receive the lower extremity 22 of the keeper 22, when the fender framework is vswung forwardly and upwardly to set position. The free end 24 of the trigger 24 extends forwardly from the seat 24 and is designed to be engaged by a releasing rod 25 which is mounted in a hanger 26 secured to the latform and which projects upwardly tirough the platform in convenient position to be pressed by the foot of the motorman in order that the trigger may be depressed at will-and be thus released from the keeper to permit the sirings 27 and 28 to act. The other end of t e trigger 24 extends downwardly from the rear cross bar 3 and is connected at itslower extremity to the rear end of a link rod 30, said link rod extending forwardly and longitudinally and being connected at its front end to a transversely extending plate 4 that is pivotally connected by brackets or straps 5 and 6 to thel front cross bar 3 of the framework. A spring 29 is connected at one end to the lower end of the trigger 24 and at its other end to the intermediate cross bar 9 so as to exert a tension on the trigger to hold it, when the parts are set, in proper engagement with the keeper 22, the said spring also serving the function of holding the plate 4 in an elevated osition relatively to the framework. 20 esignates a stop block for the lower arm of the lever 14.

ln the practical operation of our improved car fender, the parts being set, as illustrated in Fig. 1, should an obstruction be struck by the plate 4 at the extreme front end of the fender, it is obvious that the impact of the object against said plate will move the plate relatively downwardly and push backwardly uponthe hanger rod 30, so as to release thetrigger 24 from the keeper 22. rlhe springs 27 and 28 will thus be permitted to act, and in their action, as before noted, the entire framework willbe swung first rearwardly in a substantially horizontal position owing to the hanger rods 10 and 11 and the shorter hanger rod 19, so as tov insure that the framework will swing backwardly far enough to get underneath the object struck, instead of passing over it, this rearwardlyv swinging movement of the framework in substantially horizontal position being instantly followed by a quick downward movement, so that the front end of the fender will come in contact with the rails and prevent the object from being rolled underneath the traveling wheels of the car. Obviously, the motorman may himself spring or release the fender by pressing downwardly on the releasing rod 25 as soon as he sees that an obstruction is about to be encountered.

Having thus described the invention, what we claim is:

l. In a fender, a frame, a support with which the frame is connected for a rearwardly and downwardly swinging movement of the frame, a trigger connected to said frame, a keeper secured to the support and designed to be engaged by said trigger, and means carried on and by the front end of the frame for automatically releasing the trigger from the keeper upon the impact of an object with suoli means.

2. In a fender, a frame, a support with which the frame is connected for a rearwardly and downwardly swinging movement of the frame, a trigger connected to said frame, a keeper secured to the support and designed to be engaged by said trigger, and a releasing plate connected to and carried by the frame and having an operative connection with said trigger.

3. In a fender, a frame, a support therefor, hanger rods securing the frame to the support and arranged to permit a rearwardly and downwardly swinging movement of the frame, a trigger connected to said frame a keeper secured to the support and designed to be engaged by said trigger, a link rod connected to the trigger and extending forwardly therefrom to the front of the frame, and a releasing plate pivotally connected to the frame and to the front end of said link rod, as and for the purpose specified.

4. In a fender, a frame, a support therefor, hanger rods securing the frame to the support and arranged to permit a rearwardly and downwardly swinging movement of the frame relatively to its support, a trigger connected to the frame, a keeper secured to the support and designed to be engaged by said trigger, a link rod connected to the trigger and extending forwardly therefrom to the front of the frame, a releasing plate connected to the front end of the frame and to the front end of the link rod, and a spring connected to the trigger and to the frame and exerting a forward tension on the former,

5. ln a fender, a frame embodying front, rear and intermediate cross bars, a support for said frame, hanger rods pivotally Suspended from said support and piVotally conneoted to the intermediate cross bar of the frame, a shorter hanger rod pivotally suspended from the frame and connected to the rear cross .bar of the frame, springs connected to an intermediate cross bar of the frame and to the support and tending to draw the frame rearwardly and downwardly, a trigger Connected to the frame, a kee er connected to the Support and designe for engagement by the trigger, a releasing plate pivotally mounted upon the front cross bar of the frame, and a link rod connecting said releasing plate with the trigger.

In testimony whereof we afEX our signa- 15 tures in presence of tWo Witnesses.

WILLIAM L. CHRYSLER. [L s.) WILLIAM J. LUTHER. [1.. 5.] JOSEPH W. IIAYS. [LS] Witnesses as to William L. Chrysler:

A. Gr. HOLT, G. DAVIS. Witnessesas to William J. Luther:

L. M. TRAVIS, C.,T. TRAVIS. Witnesses as to Joseph W. Keys;

GEO. F. SYLVESTER, R. A. MoDoNALD. 

